The present disclosure relates generally to sabots for projectiles, such as sabots for hypervelocity projectiles.
Sabots are devices that may be used when firing a projectile, such as when the projectile is smaller than the diameter of the bore from which the projectile is shot or launched, to maintain a position of the projectile within the bore. Some conventional sabot designs use high performance materials (e.g. titanium metal matrix composite). However, these designs interface with the projectile in a manner that is not efficient for these materials. Therefore, these designs have additional mass to handle the inefficiencies of the load path. Also, conventional sabots typically are formed of multiple ‘pedals’ that increase the cost of manufacturing and assembly and decrease buckling stability.
Additionally, because existing sabots are completed using composite or metallic designs, due to the length of a projectile, the existing designs of sabots fill the gun bore from the pusher plate (or miniature) to near the nose of the projectile. As a result, materials must be used that can withstand the mass thereof, which include, for example, high grade metals or composite materials. These materials are rigid in nature and provide no cushion for the projectile during the launch event. Thus, conventional sabots are designed with thin inserts to provide low wear surface for the gun bore. The cost to produce these sabots is high due to the composite process or the cost of machining complex designs. Also, due to the length of the sabots and general volume the sabots are filling, the weight of the sabot can increase very quickly based on the caliber of the gun bore.